TESTING OF HERBICIDES AT VARIOUS DOSES ON THE GROWTH STAGES OF WILD ONION GROWN IN POTS

To test the efficacy of herbicides on wild onion (A. tenuifolius) growth stages a pot experiment was conducted at the Department of Weed Science, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Agricultural University Peshawar, Pakistan during 2005-06 and 2006-07 using Completely Randomized design with factorial arrangement and each treatment replicated twice. Four biotypes (Bannu, Karak, Bhakkar and Mianwali) of A. tenuifolius were subjected to two herbicides viz. isoproturon and fenoxaprop-p-ethyl each having four doses including an untreated check. The doses of fenoxaprop-p-ethyl were 0, 0.47 (½x), 0.94 (1X) and 1.30 (1.5X) kg a.i. ha^-1, while the doses of isoproturon were 0, 2.0 (½x), 4.0 (1X) and 6.0 (1.5X) kg a.i. ha^-1. Each biotype was subjected to 4 doses of each herbicide at 2 and 4 leaf and flowering stages. Each treatment was replicated twice. The data were recorded on fresh and dry weight of A. tenuifolius. The main effects of growth stages, biotypes and herbicides doses and the interaction of herbicides x doses and biotypes x growth stages significantly affected the fresh and dry weight. Among the growth stages, the highest value was observed for flowering stage (9.19 g), while lowest (0.95 g) fresh weed biomass was recorded at 2 leaf stage of A. tenuifolius. Among the herbicides doses the highest (4.83 g) fresh weight was recorded in untreated check while the lowest (3.66 g) fresh weight was observed at higher doses. Highest (4.76 g) fresh weight was observed for Mianwali biotype and the remaining biotypes showed similar response statistically. For dry weight, highest (1.97 g) value was recorded in untreated check, while the lowest (1.40 g) value was recorded in the higher doses. Among the biotypes, highest (2.16 g) dry weight was recorded for Mianwali biotype while the lowest (1.37 g) dry weight was recorded for Bannu biotype. It is thus recommended that wild onion may be treated at its 2 leaf stage with either fenoxaprop-p-ethyl or isoproturon for economy and environmental safety.